U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t attend the 2025 CADA Summit held Wednesday in Toronto, but his presence and the impact of his policies resonated throughout the day nonetheless.
The event typically sells out, but this year’s edition boasted record dealer and overall attendance as those in the auto industry — from OEMs, dealers, lenders, suppliers, and industry associations who represent them — try to make sense of the turbulent and chaotic times we find ourselves living through.
Dealer feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) staged another impressive event that arrived just at the right time for the industry.
Niel Hiscox, President of Universus Media Group, was the event emcee and moderated several of the panel sessions that featured more dealer participation on stage than any previous event.
(Make sure to check out our Canadian auto dealer e-news next week, where we will feature more event coverage showcasing the sessions featuring dealer content like the Quick Takes interviews, Dealer Council panel, and the CADA Laureate panel.)
CADA Chair Paul Williams set the tone for the event with his opening remarks. “We are witnessing profound political change both in Canada and abroad that is creating instability in the marketplace,” said Williams.
Many speakers throughout the event talked either directly, or indirectly, about the chaos and the difficulty of leading and making business decisions in the midst of such uncertainty that now exists on both sides of the border. Add in vehicle affordability concerns, uncertainty over who will be leading Canada, and what auto policies might look like in the near future, and you have business leaders unable to accurately predict outcomes.
Andy Wadeson, VP Sales and Distribution at TD Auto Finance, the event’s exclusive sponsor, welcomed attendees with a brief message: “Our team’s top priority is always to remain a consistent and reliable partner for you, the dealers and the manufacturers, both on the retail and commercial financing side of the business,” said Wadeson.
The day roared into high gear with a well-received presentation on demographic trends from Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. Several dealers we talked with after the event were still buzzing about some of the key learnings and takeaways from his session that debunked some of the myths many people have about population trends in Canada and globally.
Bricker said many people have a notion that we are facing unsustainable population growth around the world, which will destroy our planet, exhaust it of its resources, and that youth will dominate our future. Instead, Bricker said the demographic numbers don’t lie, and they are based on decisions people have already made. They show a world where populations in many parts of the world — including China — are facing steep population declines.
“We are just living through the changes already made by the baby boom generation,” said Bricker. He added that, instead of reaching a projected level of 10.4 billion people by the middle of this century, we will be “lucky if we get to nine billion.”
In terms of global growth, the U.S. will continue to be the only developed western nation in the top 10 of countries with the most population. He said to maintain a stable population, a country or society needs a fertility rate of 2.1. China’s replacement rate today is 1.0. Canada’s fertility rate is 1.3 — the lowest in its history.
How does this affect car dealers? Directly.
He said factors like urbanization, dropping fertility rates, and dropping population growth are affecting the makeup of Canadian communities and car buyers. “The only reason the Canadian population grows at all is that we don’t die as fast as we used to and we have tons of immigration, and that’s stopping,” said Bricker.
He said the Economist magazine labelled it the “baby bust” economy. “As for young people, there aren’t as many young people as you think — and they are all broke,” he said, advising dealers that they really need to consider shifting their marketing and outreach to attract older Canadians who have the financial means and community ties that make them desirable customers.
He said the growth will also be in urban areas. In 1960, he said, 34 per cent of Canadians were living in urban areas. Today it’s 57 per cent, and by 2050 it’s expected to be 68 per cent. “We are an incredibly urbanized country,” said Bricker. “Two-thirds of us live within 200 kilometres of the U.S. border,” and almost half of Canadians live in five cities.
He said 67 per cent of Canadians live in a suburb that requires a vehicle to commute. “Why do people buy cars? Think of where they live. Downtowns are shrinking in many cities,” he said.
Next up was Darren Slind, President and Co-Founder of the Clarify Group, who presented findings from a new study commissioned by CADA: “The Road Ahead: Canada’s Automotive Evolution” that looks at what the auto retail industry could look like in 2035. “We don’t have a crystal ball, but we are furiously polishing it to see where our industry is going to be in the next 10 years.”
Slind said the CADA sponsored study that Clarify conducted included extensive industry research, expert interviews, and a survey of dealers that looked at seven key trends. Slind provided a preliminary glimpse at some of the findings that dealers will be able to read when the report is published later this year.
In terms of high-level findings, he said: “Dealers will need to become almost anticipatory of customer needs and wants. We are looking at an evolution here.” He added that “consumers have no patience for ‘channel amnesia.’ Customers don’t want to feel like they are going through the sausage factory.”
Slind said to deliver that anticipatory and personalized experience, dealers will need to better leverage the data they have about their customers via their CRM systems. Slind said 89 per cent of dealers surveyed feel their consumers will want more personalized experiences in the future.
In terms of the outlook for new energy vehicles, which is a term for any vehicle that is powered predominantly by electricity, including BEVs, plug-ins, and hydrogen powered vehicles, he said analysts are now scaling back their projections about consumer adoption rates. “Government ambition has outstripped where consumers are,” said Slind.
In the study, dealers predicted that 63 per cent of vehicles sold by 2035 will be New Energy Vehicles, or NEVs. Currently, in Canada, only 17 per cent of Canadians surveyed say their next vehicle will be a BEV, with 23 per cent hybrid or 40 per cent electrified.
Slind said the number one concern of dealers was workforce development and talent, and that 81 per cent of dealers say the skills and competencies of their employees will be very different in 10 years. He said 72 per cent expect to have to spend more in recruitment and training for their workforce.
Octavia Howell, Equifax Canada’s Chief Information Security Officer, presented an overview on cybersecurity and what dealers can do to protect themselves from unwanted attacks. Howell said it was critical for dealers to have plans in place and to educate their employees.
“Because social attacks are the ones that actually get in. So educate your employees to make sure they know what your processes are, what you should be doing,” she said. “Plan for the future. If you are only dealing with the threats that actually are occurring, and the things that are happening today, you are already behind. What can you do within your organization to plan for the future?”
“You need to be agile. Those who are agile win,” said Howell. In the midst of complexity, volatility, ambiguity and uncertainty, you have to be agile to change quickly and pivot quickly. Are you ready for uncertainty?”
Look for more coverage of other CADA Summit sessions, including dealer panels, OEM panels, and the political panel in next week’s e-news in the March issue of Canadian auto dealer magazine.
